Applicator



Dec. 29, 1964 1-. B. TANNER 3,162,885

APPLICATOR Filed March 21, 1963 lama} @11 5 qge k United States Patent 3,162,885 APPLICATOR Troy B. Tanner, 607 Mobile St, Mobile, Ala. Filed Mar. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 266,839 3 Claims. (Cl. 15-541) ing what I at present believe to be the preferred embodiments or mechanical expressions of my invention from among various other forms, arrangements, combinations, and constructions, of which the invention is capable within the spirit and scope thereof.

In the barbering or tonsorial arts it is now conventional practice to apply wax or cream to the hair in certain types of haircuts, such for instance, as crew, butch and burr haircuts. It is now customary for the wax or cream to be applied by hand by the barber, and it will be appreciated that this constitutes an untidy procedure, for the wax or the cream is greasy and it is difiicult for the barber to remove it from his hands by washing or wiping. Thus, with the wax or cream, or a portion thereof, remaining on the hands of the barber, it will get on his barbering tools, on clothes and other equipment with which he is Working.

Thus, it will be appreciated that present methods which are practised by barbers in the application of greasy waxes and creams to the hair are unsatisfactory for they are dirty and messy and generally undesirable.

I have devised a wax or cream applicator which over comes the objections to the present hand methods of applying these substances to the hair. The applicator which I have developed eliminates completely the former necessity of hand contact with the greasy substances, and therefore results in a tidy, clean and rapid operation.

In devising my applicator I encountered certain problems which I have overcome, so that my invention provides a practical, inexpensive applicator, which, under normal use conditions, will last indefinitely.

The waxes and creams which are normally used by barbers for the purposes mentioned above are relatively thick and viscous and do not readily lend themselves to fluidity or mobility. For this reason the applicator, which in part is formed of a flexible, pliant, resilient or the like material, must be constructed so that it may be manually squeezed to force the viscous substance to flow therefrom on to the hair of the customer. It must be formed so that the dispensing head thereof will not come off the applicator under the pressures created within the applicator when it is squeezed to dispense the contained thick wax or cream.

The applicator not only provides means for applying the wax or cream to the hair, but it also provides means for spreading the applied wax or cream over the hair in a manner as desired by the barber. In providing these and other desirable and advantageous features to my applicator, I have not overlooked convenience of use, for I have formed the applicator to facilitate holding and squeezing by the barber, and have related the feed openings to the spreader means to expedite and simplify the feeding and spreading operations.

With the foregoing general objects, features and results in view, as well as certain others which will be apparent from the following explanation, the invention consists in certain novel features in design, construction, mounting and combination of elements, as will be more fully and particularly referred to and specified hereinafter.

3,162,885 Patented Dec. 29, 1964 Referring to the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation showing my applicator with the cover and dispensing head removed therefrom but in position to be screwed thereon.

FIG. 2 is atop plan view of the applicator.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in section through the cover and dispensing head of the applicator.

In the accompanying drawings I have used the numeral 1 to designate in its entirety the applicator involving the features and characteristics which I shall hereinafter describe in detail. The applicator is of a size to be held conveniently in the hand, and comprises a hollow body adapted to contain a quantity of wax or cream for application to the hair upon squeezing of the pressure generating portion thereof by the barber. The applicator may be formed of any suitable plastic material, or it may be formed of a pliable metallic material, in the manner of the usual toothpaste tube of commerce. Thus, it is to be appreciated that my applicator may be made of many different materials, and the resultant device will fall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

The applicator 1 is formed with a generally circular solid base or stand 3 which is formed with a thickness or depth as indicated at 5. Upstanding centrally from the base 3 is a neck or pedestal 7, which may be circumferentially concave as shown in the drawings.

The body of my applicator involves a generally cylindrical upper portion, which is the wax or cream storage part of the applicator, this body portion being designated by the numeral 9. The body portion 9, forming the upper part of the applicator, is open at its upper end, but is closable by a dispensing head, as will be hereinafter explained, when the applicator is in proper condition for use by the barber.

The applicator includes a pressure generating portion 11 which is in communication with the lower end of the body portion 9 and is of tapering construction downwardly or toward the base 3 of the applicator. At its lower end the pressure generating portion 11 narrows into and is connected with the solid neck 7 as at 13, the neck 7 being fixed to or integrally formed with the base'3.

The pressure generating portion 11 is formed of a flexible, pliant or resilient material of any suitable type, so that it may be squeezed by the user to force the viscous substance contained in the body 9 upwardly and'through a dispensing head for its feeding from the body and application on the hair. (As will be explained, the upper end of the body 9 is, .of course, closed by a dispensing head when the squeezing, applying and spreading opera-' tions take place.)

While the body 9, the pressure generating portion and the neck and base may be formed as an integral unit, this is not essential to the success of my applicator, and as I have stated, the applicator may be formed of plastic, metal or any other material having the necessary characteristics as set forth above. It is also within my contemplation to use combinations of materials in the production of the applicator.

At the top of the body 9 I provide external square threads 15. In place of square threads I may use deep cut threads which, like the square threads, would prevent the dispensing head (to be described) from coming off except when it is unscrewed by the user.

I provide a dispensing head designated in its entirety by the numeral 17. The dispensing head consists of a central body portion 19 which extends over and covers the applicator and is of generally circular shape, and is provided with a skirt 2]. which is interiorly grooved to mate with the threads 15 when the dispensing head is screwed on the upper end of the body 9.

The disc or circular body portion 19 of the dispensing head isprovided with'a series of perforations or feed openings 23 in a portion 25 thereof, while the other or remaining portion 27 of the circular body portion is imperforate to provide what I shall term a spreader portion. Consideration of the drawings indicates that the imperforate spreader portion 27 is greater than the area 25 having the feed perforations 23 therein. As will become apparent as this description proceeds the perforated or feed portion 25 constitutes the forward part of the dispensing head, while the spreader portion or means 27 comprises the trailing part of the head.

The disc or circular body portion 19 of the dispensing head is formed with a radially outwardly extending continuous rib '29 thereon. I provide a snap closure means comprising a disc '31 having its periphery bent downwardly and inwardly as at 33. When this closure means is used it is applied over the dispensing head by snapping the lip or look 33 down and over the rib 29, which locks the closure in place.

In filling the applicator with wax or cream the snap closure is removed from its closing position with respect to the dispensing head and the dispensing head is removed from its position screwed on the body '9, and the wax or cream is placed in the body. The dispensing head is then screwed on the body and the applicator is grasped by the barber. Due to the ingeneous configuration of the applicator, the barber-s fingers will extend about the pressure generating portion 11, and the process of applying the substance and the squeezing operation will be facilitat'ed. The dispensing head 17 is held close to or against the hair of the customer and the portion 11 is squeezed by the fingers, whereupon the contained substance will be expelled by the squeezing pressure through the feed openings 23 in the dispensing head 17 and on to the hair, the barber then moves the applicator and causes the spreader means '27 to pass over the hair and spread the applied substance there'over. It will be recognized that the barbers hands will not come into contact with the greasy wax or cream during the entire applying and spreading operation. It will also be understood that in the squeezing operation the top part of the stand will hold the hand firm.

When'the application is finished the snap closure 31 is placed in position over the dispensing head to prevent the entrance of foreign matter through the openings '27 and into the applicator. When the applicator is not in use it may he placed in a sterilizer where it will be supported in upright position on the stand 3.

The body portion 9 of my applicator, which as I have from folding or giving up when the applicator is squeezed.

explained is resilient so that it may be squeezed, is reinforced in any suitable manner in that portion which includes the square or deep threads 15. This reinforcemeat at the upperthreaded portion prevents the applicator Hence, the cylindrical body portion is formed with an upper part which is relatively more rigid than the squeezable body portion.

I claim: a

l. A generally cylindrical applicator for applying viscous substances to the hair, including a substance containing body open at one end and having a dispensing head removably connected to said body and extending over the open end, the open end of said body being of substantially the same diameter as the diameter of said substance containing body and comprising both a filling and dispensing end for the substance containing body, a hollow squeezable portion at the other end of said body, and means closing the other end of said body, said means including a neck fixed at one end to said squeez'a'ble portion and having a base on the other end.

.2. A generally cylindrical applicator in accordance with claim .1, wherein square threads are formed about the open end of said substance containing body and said ispensing head is provided with grooves therein for mating with said square threads for 'remova-bly connecting said dispensing head to said substance containing body.

3. A generally cylindrical applicator for applying viscous substances to the hair, including a substance containing body open at one end and having a dispensing head removably connected to said body and extending over the open end thereof, said dispensing head having an operative face provided with a perforated feed area and an imperforate spreader area and being provided with a radially outwardly extending rib formed on the upper end thereof, and a snap closure cap being removabiy fixable over said rib, the open end of said body being of substantially the same diameter as the diameter of said substance containing body and comprising both a filling and dispensing end for the substance containing body, a hollow squeezable portion at the other end of said substance containing bod-y, and means closing the'other end of said substance containing body, said means including a neck fixed at one end to said squeezable portion and having a base on the other end.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,65 5,678 1/28 Dorment 239-327 2,034,137 3/36 Fitz-Gibbon 15-59S 2,727,787 12/55 'Mauzy 222-215 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,179,301 12/58 France.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL APPLICATOR FOR APPLYING VISCOUS SUBSTANCES TO THE HAIR, INCLUDING A SUBSTANCE CONTAINING BODY OPEN AT ONE END AND HAVING A DISPENSING HEAD REMOVABLY CONNECTED TO SAID BODY AND EXTENDING OVER THE OPEN END, THE OPEN END OF SAID BODY BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME DIAMETER AS THE DIAMETER OF SAID SUBSTANCE CONTAINING BODY AND COMPRISING BOTH A FILLING AND DISPENSING END FOR THE SUBSTANCE CONTAINING BODY, A HOLLOW SQUEEZABLE PORTION AT THE OTHER END OF SAID BODY, AND MEANS CLOSING THE OTHER END OF SAID BODY, SAID MEANS INCLUDING A NECK FIXED AT ONE END TO SAID SQUEEZABLE PORTION AND HAVING A BASE ON THE OTHER END. 